Improved movable berth



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NORMAN w. WHEELER., OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED MOVABLE BERTH.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,4181, dated April 25, M3653.

To all zrhom 'it may concern i Be it known thatl, NORMAN W. WHEELER, ot' Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vessels and I do hereby declare that the following` is a fulland exact description thereof.

The accompanying drawings form a 1 artof this specification.

Figure lis an elevation of a stand of berths, and Fig. 2 a plan ofthe sameon a small scale. The remaining figures represent details of the more important parts on a larger scale.

Like letters refer to the same parts in the several drawings.

This invention relates to a mode of arrangiig berths along the side of a deck-house upon the upper deck ot' a vessel or in analogous situations.

It consists, first, in adapting them to be rigidly set up in stands in the manner herein after described, so as to rest their weight upon the deck and be held against horizontal forces by the deck-house or equivalent supportat one side only without requiring a` level deck or rigid oit-:accurate fitting; and, second, in a mode of connecting the parts which takes up all slack therein.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, l will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of the drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon.

A is the deck of a vessel 5 B, the side ofthe deck-house 5 and C G2 C3, the several berths, each being a rectangular frame of wood with sacking stretched across.

D D are sockets secured to the side of the deck-house or other convenient place to support the upper ends of certain portable stanchions, and E E are sockets adapted to hold in place the lower ends of the same stanchions in such manner that they may be separately put in place and securely held and readily taken down. I have made the berths in each set three in height and two in width, and this number may be employed in all situations, and a greater number in most in stances, because my invention allows them to be crowded more closely than usual without serious inconvenience.

F, G, and H are the inner row of stanchions or posts, and I, J, and K are the outer row of stanchions to support the berths. Links L are up and `down as required.

M M are metal hook-plates secured to the corners of the berth-frames. These hooks M are adapted to be supported by the links L in the manner shown in the drawings. i

P P are slight'awning-stanchions, and Q, is

a canvas awning or cover stretched over the berths.

The berth -frames U may be provided with the usual sla-ts or canvas to support the beds; but I prefer a bed-bottom of wire-cloth or per.-

forated sheet metal. Imake the frames hinged together in pairs by the hinges c c, so that when taken down theyma-y be folded together and the more snugly stored, and I stiiieneach with a metal knee, c', at each corner. The links L are arranged in such manner, as shown in the drawings, that they `will vibrate or swing freely when required; but the action ot' gravity when loaded tends by their oblique position to hold the berths and the stanchions very snugly together. 'lhe hook-plates M at the inner or hinged corners of the double set ot' berths are so narrow that two hooks will go into one link.

To set up a stand of berths, the stanchions F and H are placed in position with the upper ends in the sockets D and the lower ends in the sockets E, the other stanchions and the lower set of links, L, being temporarily held up in the proper position by attendants. The lower berth-frames. C', are now unfolded and raised to such position that the links L will drop over the hooks M and sustain thein. rlhis supports the first or lower berths. The second berths C2 are next placed in position in like manner, and after these the third, fourth, Src., if more than three are used.

It is obvious that the attachment of the i berths to one or all the several stanchons may be made by means of the wellknown pintle-and-socket arrangement, keeping the parts otherwise, as I have represented, and the construction would be to some extent serviceable, but I deem the link-andhook sup: port very far preferable.

It will be seen by inspection of the drawin gs that the berths are held by the stanchions F and H at two corners, and that the diagonal stiffness of the berth-frames C G2, Src., supports the other stanehions against horizontal motion. It will also be seen that the diagonal position of the supporting-links causes them to take up all slack or lost motion and render the structure more stiff and unyielding in proportion to the weight of and upon the berths, while at the same time it does not require accurate tting and adjustment of the several parts, but will allow the same parts to be tted to variously curved and sheared parts of the same or different vessels.

Another property due to my construction and arrangement is that if one of the upper berths is lifted from its proper place by a person lifting an empty berth above him while getting in or out or lying in a lower berth, the link will rise with the berth, and when the berth is let fall the link will fall of its own weight and re-engage the hook at the proper point. This allows my berths to be used conveniently with less vertical height than is usually necessary between each of the several berth-frames, C G2, te.

My invention is important on account of its easy fitting in every place, its non-liability to be thrown permanently out ot' connection by accidental forces from the man below its ready connection and disconnection without tools, and the impossibility of losing any part. I esteem especially important its property of yielding and yet of preventing lost motion in the connections, as described, so as to be set up easily and adapt itself perfectly to the give the proper pitch to the canvas roof; but v in general I cover the space to be occupied by the berths with continuous roofs or cover- .ings of canvas properly attached to convenient parts of the vessel. v

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as. new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows- 1. In the described combination with avessel, the employment of the sockets D D and E E, stanehions F and H, the two or more berths C C2, and the free supporting stanehions I and K, arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. In connection with the above, the combination of the hooks, links, and stanehions constructed and arranged to operate together substantially in the manner and for the purposes described,

NORMAN NV. VHEELER.

Titnesses EMIL VossNAcK, D. W. STE'rsoN. 

